Perfect (or Not): Chopped Spring Salad

We can blame Chad Robertson for this. He’s set a standard of perfection by making chewy/crusty/memorable loaves at Tartine Bakery.

Why shouldn’t we expect perfection elsewhere – especially when foodies make such a monumental deal of food and the right way to do this and the right way to do that?

So, I’m launching Perfect (or Not). One dish, one rating, one day.

I’ve been eating a lot of salads in the Mission lately – in part because there are more places that serve decent salad. But when you’re paying upwards of $12, they should be perfect. Today, at La Salumeria on 20th Street, I ordered the spring chopped salad with avocado, asparagus, ham, and a Cesar dressing.

It was, alas, Not Perfect!

Why? First, I asked for light dressing, but it came wet, glistening with dressing and there was dressing at the bottom of the bowl when I finished.

Dressing at the bottom should probably not appear on a lightly dressed salad.

The ham made it too salty. I don’t know what you do about that, but maybe leaving salt out of the dressing would help. Or maybe I should have thought of that and decided that this was maybe a salad for people who liked a salty taste.

OK, ML pens a few too many endlessly tedious pieces on gentrification and displacement. But ML also explores the delights of the new wave of food emporia that are keeping the Mission at the cutting edge of urban civility.

ML has a moral imperative to show both sides of the gentrification debate. And I’d rather see some contradictions and nuances on the subject than have ML turn into some mindless hopelessly liberal whinefest.

If everyone is unhappy with something here, then isn’t Lydia doing a good job?

PAM: Have any ideas for the perfect dish somewhere? Send them to missionlocal@gmail.com. I think La Taqueria’s tacos could be an addition, but I will have to go back to make sure. Being perfect isn’t easy.

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